NAROK

User & Organizer Documentation β€” Dashboard Overview

1. Introduction to the Dashboard

The Tournament Overview acts as the central hub of the NAROK platform. Whether you are organizing your own events, checking your active tournament participations, or browsing upcoming Blood Bowl tournaments around the globe, everything starts here.

NAF Integration Note: This platform is closely tied to NAF tournament data. Features such as player rankings, squad tracking, and matchmaking use official parameters like NAF numbers, Glicko ratings, and nationality context.

2. Dashboard Sections

The overview is logically separated into three major sections based on your user profile and permissions:

1 Organized by [Your Name]

This area is exclusive to Tournament Organizers (TOs). It lists all the tournaments that you own or manage. From here, you have direct administrative access to modify settings, manage registrants, and input match results.

2 My Participations

As a player, any tournament you have registered for (whether an individual event or a team-based squad format) will show up here. This gives you quick access to upload your rosters, check your tournament standing, or report your game outcomes.

3 All Tournaments

A chronological feed of all past, ongoing, and future tournaments stored in the database. You can use the date picker to filter events within specific date ranges to find future tournaments to register for.

3. Anatomy of a Tournament Card

Each tournament is represented by a detailed card containing critical status information:

4. Understanding Tournament Statuses

At the bottom of the overview, a dynamic status legend outlines the life cycle of a tournament on NAROK:

πŸ“ Draft The tournament is being created and is only visible to the organizer.
πŸ“’ Announced The event is visible to all users, but registration is not yet active.
🌐 Published The tournament is live and open for registrations and ticket purchases.
❄️ Rosters Frozen Registrations are closed; team rosters are locked and cannot be changed by players.
πŸ”‘ Check-In Open Players can mark themselves as physically present at the venue.
πŸƒ Running Matches are currently being paired and played.
πŸ“Š Reporting Active phase where coaches input game results directly via their devices.
πŸ”’ Closed The tournament is finalized, history is archived, and results are ready for NAF submission.

Creating a New Tournament

Setting up a tournament in NAROK is organized into three main navigation pillars: Process, Information, and Rules. The "Information" tab (General Information) is where the core metadata of your event is defined.

1. Navigation Pillars

  • Process: Manage the lifecycle of your tournament (transitioning from Draft to Announced, etc.). Note that certain phases will lock specific configuration options to ensure data integrity.
  • Information: The technical and logistical setup of the event (as seen in the screenshot).
  • Rules: Specific Blood Bowl gameplay settings and roster requirements.

2. General Information Modules

The setup is divided into collapsible sections to keep the process manageable:

Name and Type: Define the tournament title and choose between Individual or Squad-based formats.
Points and Tiebreakers: Configure your scoring system (e.g., 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) and define the hierarchy of tiebreakers (e.g., Net Touchdowns, Casualties, or Strength of Schedule).
Ruleset: Select the underlying Blood Bowl rules version (e.g., BB2020) and any specific NAF-sanctioned variants.
Address and Webpage: Enter the physical venue location and link to official event websites or social media groups.
Dates: Set the start and end dates. This information feeds directly into the global "All Tournaments" calendar.
Rounds: Determine the number of rounds to be played. This is crucial for the pairing engine and scheduling.
Survey Questions: (Optional) Create custom fields to ask participants for details like "Lunch preferences" or "T-Shirt size" during registration.
Registration Options: Manage how users can joinβ€”set registration deadlines, maximum player counts, and whether manual approval by the organizer is required.
Pro Tip: Use the Process tab to move your tournament out of "Draft" mode once you are ready for the community to see it in the "All Tournaments" overview.

2.1 Name and Type of Tournament

This section defines the identity and structural backbone of your event. The choices made here will dictate how the registration and pairing engines behave.

Name: The official title of your tournament as it will appear in the public "All Tournaments" list.
BB Version: Select the applicable Blood Bowl ruleset (e.g., BB 2020 or BB 2025). This ensures that coaches are aware of the mechanical framework of the games.
Fee per Coach: Enter the registration cost. Note: This field is for information purposes and helps coaches plan their budget.
Number of Rounds: Define how many games each participant (or squad) will play. This is essential for calculating the tournament duration and Swiss pairings.
Type (Individual vs. Squad):
  • Individual: A standard "one coach, one team" format.
  • Squad: A team-based format where multiple coaches form a single competitive unit (e.g., a 4-person team).
System: Choose the pairing logic. The Swiss system is the standard for Blood Bowl, ensuring players with similar records face off in subsequent rounds.

Squad-Specific Configuration

If Squad is selected as the tournament type, the following additional fields must be configured:

  • Number of Coaches in one Squad: Set the exact size of the team (e.g., 3, 4, or 6 coaches per squad).
  • Max. Number of Squads: Defines the venue capacity limit for teams. Once this number is reached, new registrations will be placed on a waiting list.
Technical Note: If you switch the Type from Squad back to Individual, the squad-specific fields will be hidden, but your saved "Max. Number of Squads" may be retained in the database until the form is submitted.

2.2 Points and Tiebreakers

This module allows you to customize the competitive scoring math for your tournament. You can define standard match points and establish a complex hierarchy for resolving ties in the standings.

Standard Match Points

Set the fundamental values for game outcomes. These are typically set to 3 / 1 / 0 or 2 / 1 / 0 depending on your preferred tournament style.

Points for a Win: Points awarded to the victorious coach.
Points for a Draw: Points awarded to both coaches in case of a tie.
Points for a Loss: Points awarded for a defeat.
Additional Options: Check this to reveal advanced scoring parameters (e.g., bonus points for clean sheets or high scoring).

Tiebreaker Hierarchy

When coaches have the same total points, the system uses the Tiebreaker Hierarchy to determine their rank. You can select multiple criteria in order of importance.

Recommended Setup: In most scenarios, always select Points (or SquadPoints for team events) as the first criteria.

Select Tiebreakers: Choose from a dropdown of statistics (e.g., Net Touchdowns, Net Casualties, Head-to-Head result, or Strength of Schedule).
Resulting Logic String: The system generates a technical string (e.g., Points > NetTD > NetCas) to show you exactly how the ranking engine will process the data.

Game Interface Extensions

These toggles customize the match reporting form that coaches use after their games. Enabling these will track additional statistics without affecting the primary score unless specified in the tiebreakers.

  • Use Pass Counter: Adds a field to track successful passes.
  • Use Foul Counter: Adds a field to track the number of fouls committed.
Organizer's Note: If you are running a Squad Tournament, ensure you configure the second Tiebreaker dropdown specifically for Squad rankings to ensure the team-vs-team standings are calculated correctly.

2.3 Ruleset Configuration

The Ruleset module defines the gameplay constraints and the budget balancing for teams. You can either use standardized community rulesets or create a bespoke system for your event.

1. Ruleset Selection

Use my own ruleset: Choose this to define custom tiers, skill packages, and budget rules in the main "Rules" tab.
Use predefined ruleset: Select from a list of community-standard rulesets (e.g., Eurobowl 2024, NAF Championship) to automatically populate all balancing and tier data.

2. Squad Composition Rules

For team-based events, you can enforce specific diversity rules:

  • All Teams must have different tiers: Ensures a squad is composed of a mix of power levels (e.g., one Tier 1, one Tier 2, etc.).
  • No Squad may have the same race twice: Enforces race diversity within a squad (standard for most major team tournaments).
  • Rotate rosters within squad: (Experimental) Defines if coaches must switch teams/rosters during the tournament.

3. Squad Tier Bonuses (Advanced Balancing)

This system allows you to award extra budget to a squad based on the "cumulative weakness" of their chosen races. This is a powerful tool for encouraging the play of lower-tier teams.

How it works: The system sums up the Tier values of all races in a squad. Based on this Tier Sum, you can grant a Bonus Budget.

Minimal Tier Sum: The threshold at which the bonus system starts to apply.
Add Tier Bonus Rule: Create a table where a specific Tier Sum triggers a specific Bonus Budget (e.g., "If Tier Sum is 15, Squad gets +100k gold").
Important: Tier names in your settings must end with a numeric value (e.g., 'Tier 1', 'Alpha 2') for the math engine to correctly calculate the sums.

2.4 Address and Webpage

This module ensures that participants can find your venue and stay updated through external communication channels. The information entered here is displayed publicly on the tournament's details page.

Location Details

Providing accurate location data helps coaches plan their travel and allows the system to categorize tournaments by region.

  • Street: The specific address of the tournament venue.
  • City: The town or city where the event is held (defaults to tbd if unknown).
  • Country / State: Essential for international coaches and for filtering events in the global overview.

External Links & Communication

Webpage: Link to your primary tournament website, NAF forum post, or Facebook event page.
Discord Invite Code: Enter just the invite code (the part after discord.gg/). This will provide coaches with a direct link to join your tournament's community server for real-time updates, rules discussions, and pairing announcements.
Visibility Note: All fields in this section are public. Avoid putting private contact information (like personal phone numbers) here unless you want them visible to all registered and prospective users.

2.5 Dates of Tournament

This section allows you to define the temporal window of your event. Setting accurate dates is crucial as it determines your tournament's placement in the global calendar and affects the "active" status of the reporting tools.

Defining the Timeframe

Start Date: Select the first day of competitive play. For most tournaments, this is a Saturday or the first day of a weekend.
End Date: Select the final day of the event.

One-Day Events

If your tournament takes place entirely within a single day:

  • Select the same date for both the Start Date and the End Date.
  • The system will automatically recognize this as a one-day event and adjust the display on the tournament card accordingly.
System Logic: The tournament will appear in the "All Tournaments" section on the dashboard sorted by the Start Date. Once the End Date has passed, the tournament status will eventually transition toward the "Closed" phase.

2.6 Rounds of Tournament

This module allows you to specify the exact timing for each round. While the number of rounds is set in the "Name and Type" section, this area focuses on the scheduling metadata required for official sanctioning.

Technical Note: NAF XML Integration

The dates and times entered here are primarily utilized for the XML export file. This file is generated after the tournament to upload results to the NAF website for global ranking updates.

  • Internal Management: These times do not restrict when you can start a round within the tool itself.
  • External Reporting: Accurate times ensure that the NAF database correctly sequences matches for Elo/Glicko calculations.

Scheduling Individual Rounds

For each round defined in your tournament setup, you can specify:

Date for Round [X]: The specific day the round takes place (useful for multi-day events).
Time for Round [X]: The scheduled kick-off time.
Organizer Tip: Even though these times aren't used to "lock" the software's pairing engine, keeping them accurate helps your participants see the planned schedule on the tournament's public information page.

2.7 Survey Questions

The Survey module allows you to collect custom information from your participants beyond their NAF data. Whether you need to know about dietary requirements, T-shirt sizes, or painted army status, this tool provides a flexible way to poll your coaches.

Question Configuration

You can configure up to 10 custom questions. For each question, you define:

  • Question Text: The specific inquiry you want to send to the coaches.
  • Type: Select the input format (e.g., Yes / No, Text, or Multiple Choice).
  • Deadline: Set a specific date by which the question must be answered.

Lifecycle and Visibility Switches

Organizers have granular control over how and when questions are interactable:

Visible: Toggles whether the question is shown to participants at all.
Published: Enables active access, allowing users to start submitting their answers.
Closed: Use this to stop accepting new answers once a deadline has passed.

Tracking and Communication

Progress Tracking: The 0 / 0 counter below each question shows real-time progress (Answered / Total Participants).
Mail Icon (Reminders): Click the blue envelope icon to send automated email reminders. You can choose to message all participants or specifically target those who are still pending (have not answered yet).
Red Trash Can: Deletes the question and all associated data from the tournament record.
Organizer Tip: Prepare your questions in advance while the tournament is in "Draft" mode. Only hit "Published" once you are ready for the influx of responses But you can also on the fly do some questions later on even during the tournament.

2.8 Registration Options

This module defines the entry workflow for coaches. It allows you to automate communication and control the flow of participants to ensure your event stays within venue capacity.

Workflow Controls

Enable Waitinglist: If the tournament reaches its maximum capacity (defined in the "Name and Type" section), new registrants will automatically be placed on a waiting list instead of being rejected.
Manual registration approval: When enabled, coaches who sign up are not immediately added to the participant list. They remain in a "Pending" state until an organizer manually approves their entry. This is ideal for invitation-only events or verifying payment first.

Notifications and Communication

Notify me on new registrations: Enable this to receive an automated alert whenever a new coach signs up, keeping you updated on the growth of your event in real-time.
Send welcome email to participants: A powerful automation tool. When a coach's registration is confirmed, the system will automatically send them a personalized greeting.
Welcome email text: Use this field to draft a custom message. This is the perfect place to include details about venue rules, payment deadlines, or links to the rules pack.
Organizer Tip: Use the Manual registration approval in combination with the Welcome email to create a professional "Confirmation" workflow. You can approve them once their tournament fee is received and have the email serve as their official ticket.

3. Participants Management

The Participants tab is the operational command center for organizers during the registration phase. It allows you to monitor sign-ups, communicate with coaches, and manage individual or squad statuses.

3.1 Broadcast Messaging

Communication is key to a smooth tournament. Use the Broadcast Message tool to send bulk emails to your participants.

  • Placeholders: Use {{naf-nick}} or {{squad}} to personalize your messages automatically.
  • Targeting: You can choose to send messages to all participants, only to squad captains (in squad mode), or send a copy to yourself for your records.

3.2 Participant Overview & Filtering

Both views feature a robust search and filter bar to help you find specific coaches or races quickly:

Search Bar: Filter by NAF Nick or Name in real-time.
Filter by Race: Useful for checking the "meta" of your tournament or ensuring race diversity.
Badges (IM / GM): Identify Intermediates or Grandmasters based on their NAF standing.

3.3 View A: Individual Player Mode

In standard tournaments, each row represents a single coach. You can monitor and toggle the following statuses:

Approved: Green check indicates the coach is officially in. Red X means they are pending approval.
Paid: Tracks financial status.
Ready: Indicates if the coach has submitted a valid roster and is cleared for Round 1.
U18: Flags junior players for specific prize categories or legal requirements.

3.4 View B: Squad Mode

When the tournament is set to "Squad" type, the interface groups coaches into their respective teams.

  • Squad Captains: Designated with a "captain" label, these users are the primary point of contact for the team.
  • Invitation Status: Shows if a coach has "confirmed" their place in the squad or is still "invited" (pending).
  • Squad Glicko: The system automatically displays the average Glicko rating for the entire squad, providing an instant preview of the team's competitive strength.
Administrative Power: As an organizer, you have the ability to manually delete entries (red trash can) or directly email a specific coach (envelope icon) from their entry row.

4. In-Game Reporting Interface

The Game tab is the active interface for coaches during their matches. It allows for live tracking of scores, casualties, and game-state transitions, providing immediate data for the tournament rankings.

4.1 Match Header & Atmosphere

Before recording stats, coaches can set the environmental conditions of the match:

  • Fans: Track the dedicated fan attendance for both Home and Away teams.
  • Weather Tracker: Select the current pitch conditions (e.g., Sunny, Fair, Raining, Blizzard). This serves as a visual reminder of active weather rules.
  • Match Info: Clearly displays the current Round and Table number to ensure coaches are reporting for the correct pairing.

4.2 Score & Casualty Tracking

The interface provides large, touch-friendly increment/decrement buttons for primary match statistics:

Touchdowns (Football Icon): Track the current score. Updates here are reflected in the real-time rankings.
Casualties (Skull Icon): Track inflictions caused by the team. Essential for tiebreaker calculations.
Roster Quick-View: The list icon next to the team name allows coaches to quickly reference their opponent's or their own team composition.

4.3 Match Transitions

To ensure data integrity, matches progress through specific milestones:

  • HALFTIME: Use this button to log the score at the end of the first half. This provides granular data for tournament statistics.
  • FULLTIME: Finalizes the match. Clicking this will prompt a confirmation and then lock the result, sending the final scores to the Results tab for pairing calculations.
Coach Tip: Use the Messages tab at the top if you need to contact the Tournament Organizer (TO) immediately regarding a rules dispute or a mis-entered score before hitting "Fulltime."

5. Results and Standings

The Results tab provides a comprehensive look at the competitive landscape of the tournament. It is divided into an overall Ranking overview and detailed Round-by-Round match reports.

5.1 Standings Overview

The Standings table provides a real-time leaderboard of all participants. Organizers and coaches can customize this view to analyze specific performance metrics.

  • Dynamic Columns: Use the column selector (grid icon) to toggle visibility for advanced stats like Net Touchdowns (TDΞ”), Net Casualties (CASΞ”), Glicko ratings, and Opponent Score.
  • Filtering: The search bar allows you to filter the standings by Coach Name or Race.
  • Visibility Toggle: The "Visible for participants" switch allows organizers to hide the standings (e.g., before the final round) to build tension for the awards ceremony.

5.2 Round Results & Pairings

By selecting a specific round number (1, 2, 3, etc.) in the sub-navigation, you can view the pairings and individual match outcomes for that round.

Match Status: A green dot next to a coach's name indicates they have confirmed their result. A red dot indicates a pending or unconfirmed report.
Live Scoring: The central circles display the final score (e.g., 2 - 1). Small numbers in parentheses represent secondary stats like casualties.
Manual Correction: Organizers can click the Pencil Icon on any match row to manually override or correct a score if a coach made an entry error.

5.3 Navigation Controls

The blue toggle buttons allow you to switch the pairing view between different perspectives:

  • Individual Icon: Shows standard 1-vs-1 pairings.
  • Squad/Group Icon: (In Squad Tournaments) Switches the view to show team-vs-team pairings and aggregated squad scores.
  • Refresh Icon: Manually updates the data to pull the latest reported scores from the Game tab.
Technical Note: Standings are calculated based on the Tiebreaker Hierarchy defined in the Information tab. If two coaches are tied on points, the system automatically applies your chosen secondary and tertiary criteria to determine the rank.

6. Team Management (My Team)

The My Team tab is the central interface for coaches to build and manage their rosters. It provides real-time validation against tournament rules and budget constraints, ensuring every team is "tournament-ready."

6.1 Team Configuration & Rules

Before adding players, coaches define the core identity of their team:

  • Race & Tier: The selected race automatically determines the team's Tier, which may influence the available budget or skill access based on the tournament's Special Tier Rules.
  • Special Rules Display: A dedicated area lists all specific roster-building restrictions, such as limits on Star Players, skill stacking rules, or secondary skill costs.

6.2 Budget & Compliance

The system tracks every gold piece spent to ensure the roster is legal:

  • Roster & Skill Budget: Separate trackers for the base team cost and the additional budget allocated for skills.
  • Compliance Indicator: A real-time status box (e.g., "Compliant with rules") flags errors, such as having fewer than 11 players or exceeding the maximum skill stack.
  • Transfer Logic: Shows any budget transfers, such as moving unspent skill gold to the general roster budget if allowed.

6.3 Roster Construction

Player Selection: Use the dropdown menus for each player slot to choose specific positionals (e.g., Halfling Hopeful, Treeman) or Star Players.
Stat Tracking: The interface displays essential player stats (MA, ST, AG, PA, AV) and existing skills for quick reference during building.
Sideline Staff & Inducements: Dedicated sections at the bottom allow for the purchase of Rerolls, Apothecaries, Cheerleaders, and specialized inducements like Bribes or Masterchefs.
Coach Tip: Changes are saved automatically. Look for the green "All changes are saved" notification at the top to ensure your latest roster adjustments are secured.

7. Tournament Rules & Tiers

The Rules tab allows tournament organizers to define the mechanical framework of the event, from basic roster-building rules to complex Tier-based bonus systems.

7.1 General Ruleset Options

Organizers can choose between two primary methods for rule implementation:

  • Predefined Ruleset: Select from a list of standardized rulesets already published on the server.
  • Custom Ruleset: Create a unique ruleset by toggling specific constraints, such as:
    • All Teams have to have different tiers.
    • No Squad may have the same race twice (for team-based events).
    • Use Squad Bonus System to balance overall squad strength.

7.2 Tier Management

Tiers are used to balance different Blood Bowl races by providing extra resources to weaker teams. Each Tier can be configured individually:

  • Race Assignment: Define which races belong to which Tier (e.g., Orcs in Tier 1, Skaven in Tier 2).
  • Resource Allocation: Set specific Budget (for players), Skill Budget, and the maximum allowed Skill Stacks per player.
  • Star Player Access: Enable or disable the use of Star Players for specific Tiers and define how many are allowed.
  • Special Rules: Attach unique rules to a Tier, such as "Tier 1 Money Transfer".

7.3 Star Player Configuration

The system includes a comprehensive list of Star Players that can be globally managed for the tournament:

  • Banning: Individual stars can be banned or unbanned.
  • Custom Costs: Adjust the Extra Skill Cost or Extra Budget Cost for specific stars to refine balance.

Organizer Note: When setting up Squad Tier Bonuses, ensure that Tier names end with their numeric value (e.g., 'Tier 1'). This allows the system to calculate the total Tier sum of a squad and automatically apply the corresponding Bonus Budget.

Tab: Process (Tournament Director Only)

The Process tab acts as the control room. It manages the timeline of the tournament and handles the "heavy lifting" like pairing, state transitions, and NAF data exports.

1. Global Tournament State

The tournament moves through a sequence of states. Each state enables or disables specific features for you and your participants:

  • Draft Initial setup. Hidden from the public.
  • Announced Visible on the dashboard. Registration is now possible.
  • Check-In Used on the day of the event to confirm physical attendance.
  • Running The tournament is active. Rounds can be paired and reported.
  • Closed The event is finished. Standings are finalized and data is locked.

2. Round & Pairing Management

This area controls the competitive flow. The system uses your Tiebreaker Hierarchy to calculate Swiss pairings.

Pair Round [X]: Click this to generate the next round's matches. The system ensures that players of similar strength face each other.
Freeze Rosters: Prevents coaches from making any further changes to their team lists. Recommended once the first round is paired.
Reset Round: An emergency feature to wipe the pairings of a current round if a manual correction is required.

3. NAF Reporting & Data Export

Once the final whistle blows, NAROK simplifies the administrative wrap-up:

NAF Upload (XML): Generates the official XML file required by the NAF. This includes all match results, dates, and coach data formatted for the global rankings.
Sync Glicko/Nation: Pulls the latest official data from the NAF database to ensure all records are current.

4. Participant Notifications

Automate your communication during the event. You can trigger mass emails for specific milestones:

  • Send "Round [X] Pairings live" alerts.
  • Send reminders to coaches with unsubmitted results.
  • Custom notifications for specific tournament phases.
TD Advice: Always double-check that all results for the current round have a green "Confirmed" status before clicking "Pair Next Round". This ensures the Swiss logic is based on the most accurate data.